Home >

Retailers In Europe And America Are Bracing For Christmas Sales Season

2011/12/24 9:39:00 6

??? 日本語 Fran?ais English 中文

Christmas is approaching. For European and American countries, this holiday is as important as the Spring Festival in China. Retailer We all want to seize this opportunity to promote sales and increase sales. Before entering this holiday, they started to fight. Commercial warfare Some went in a week in advance. Promotion At the stage, some activities are extended and consumers are encouraged to use various discounts to attract customers.

Messi department store Christmas scene

Messi department store Christmas window

Messi department store Christmas scene

Us: businesses start super Saturday

When is the last Saturday before Christmas? If you shop at Messi, Sears or J.C.Penney, you'd better look at the calendar. These businesses have promoted the Christmas sales campaign for a week.

Since the Thanksgiving weekend shopping holiday, the retail sales in the US have declined sharply, prompting worried retailers to start selling prices, extending special activities, extending their business hours, and rearranging their schedules.

Merchants enter the promotion period ahead of schedule.

Saturday before Christmas is the most discounted shopping day in a year. This year is December 24th. This day is too critical for retailers' holiday sales. This is to be seen from consumers who procrastinate to the eve of Christmas. But this year the situation is different. Many promotional activities linked to the so-called "super Saturday" in the retail industry are now rescheduled in December 16th, 8 days ahead of Christmas.

"If you are still waiting for 24 days, then you will miss the opportunity," said Michael Mcnamara, vice president of analytical division of Master Card Inc (MasterCardInc). The company has been tracking consumers' shopping.

But not all stores have made such a shift, which has caused considerable confusion in the retail sector.

Dan Biederman, President of 34th Street Partnership, said that the retailing industry seems to be splitting up. The company is located in downtown Manhattan and is mainly responsible for marketing competition for retailers on super Saturday.

Biederman's agency plans to sell in December 24th, including hanging large size digital symbols to calculate the number of shopping bags that shoppers in the region carry on this very important Saturday. Tricia Lewis, director of digital media at 34th Street Partnership, said that 34th Street Partnership found that half of its national chain enterprises launched major sales in December 16th, including Messi, penny and A ropostale, while the other half came to December 24th, including Skechers, Vitoria's Secret (Victoria s s), and so on.

There are even different situations within different companies. GAPP said its Old Navy and GAPP store had launched a big promotion in December 16th, and the Banana Republic brand will be promoted on the 24 th. Biederman said: "obviously, the consumption budget of customers will bring confusion."

Messi, executive vice president of marketing at the department store of Messi, said that 17 is just a coincidence in our schedule. Like other retailers, Messi stores will open on the 24 day, but its main promotional activities have been advanced for a week.

Consumers either take French leave.

Saturday is likely to be very frightening, which is not good for consumers. Consumers are tired of fake shopping activities: Black Friday, sofa Sunday, online crazy Monday, red, mobile, green and free delivery.

But retailers' fears are also practical. They see the Christmas season go away, and the potential impact on the economy is enormous.

After Thanksgiving weekend, sales in American retail stores declined significantly in the next two weeks. According to the International Shopping Center Association, cumulative sales fell 2.4% in the following weeks of Thanksgiving week, the biggest since 2000. The Commerce Department said retail sales in November, including online sales, were lower than analysts' forecasts, rising by only 0.2%, to $399 billion 300 million, the slowest growth in the past 5 months.

Peter Buchanan, an economist at the Canadian Empire commercial bank's world market, said: "this shows that retailers can get a much lower profit in the Christmas sales season than people expected." Considering that consumer spending occupies a large part of the gross domestic product of the United States, he said: "if consumers continue to procrastinate, it is very small that retailers want to get real opportunities to return to Thanksgiving sales." According to a survey by the United States research group and UBS group, almost 40% of Americans said they had completed Christmas shopping in December 16th, indicating that the rest of the shopping was scarce. But the main retail group, the US National Retail Federation, remains optimistic, raising its Christmas forecast, which will increase sales by 3.8% this Christmas holiday and its expected growth is 2.8%.

Michael Niemela, chief economist of the International Shopping Center Association, said: "our main focus is on black Friday, and the industry is pushing more smoothly, but the price is the rest now."

Extended business hours and final spurt

So stagnation makes this year's last few days before Christmas particularly important. In some markets, shops, including Sears and Taghit, remain open until midnight at the final stage of the Christmas rush. Toys "R" Us will continue to operate for 112 hours in the first few days before Christmas. Messi stores will arrange more than 12 stores for 83 hours.

All Saturday is very important. Mckenna Ma said: "Saturday December is the biggest annual passenger volume." But nothing is more important than the last Saturday before Christmas (maybe some other Saturday's competition this year). The total business income of this day is sometimes higher than that of Friday after Thanksgiving. Retailers usually offer large cross type discounts on the day, rather than a limited number of special merchandise discounts after Thanksgiving.

Folding up is crazy.

For example, J.C.Penney plans to provide toys, women's clothing, men's clothing and luggage items 60 percent off, and refined jewelry 65% off. Sears stores will give up the $199 jewelry profits, and will provide most jewellery 75% off and sweater 65% off. In this confusion, WAL-MART will provide the lowest price of toys and bicycles in the Christmas shopping in December 17th. The supermarket said it would not call it "super Saturday" because it was used in November.

The goal of Saturday's discount is to sell as many Christmas items as possible. By selling the promotions a week ahead, retailers will have more time to sell stock that they can't sell, because there is still demand in the market. Cathy Glennys, a spokesman for the National Retail Federation, said: "the discount is crazy because as the Christmas season draws to a close, they still have a lot of goods to sell."

For 34th Street Partnership, it will do its best this Saturday - in addition to digital symbols, it will also record transactions and coordinate safety and environmental hygiene staff on blogs. Biederman said his team will also provide security and cleanliness assistance in December 24th, but they are still puzzled whether the value of their shopping bag will be comparable to that of last year's super Saturday. Biederman said, "is this a super Saturday? Let's wait and see."

UK: final sale

John Lewis Christmas scene

At the advent of Christmas, British retailers began to promote sales activities in order to attract customers to stores in these important days.

Because consumers have been waiting for the last discount information, they want to spend money at the last minute of Christmas, so that many retailers are helpless before.

Julian Duncton, director of Super group, the parent company of Superdry, a famous British clothing brand, said: "all activities are postponed and people's shopping hours are pushed back compared with last year's Christmas shopping season."

Tim Phil, marketing manager of Clintons, said the company is preparing for a rush of Christmas rush days.

The trade peaks of British retailers are also coming later than usual. Mark Newton, owner of ShopDirect, owner of Littlewoods, said Jones's busiest week was a few days ago, a few days later than last year. He hopes Christmas sales will be flat or slightly surpassed last year.

Many retailers are still anxiously waiting for the arrival of Christmas shopping peak. They are starting to take a big sale to ask customers to shop.

Jim Macarthy, chief executive of Poundland store, believes that smart smart consumers have been putting off shopping, hoping to grasp the last minute business, but he expects the company's sales performance to be better than last year's. He continued: "people are well aware that if they start off shopping later, retailers will offer more promotions in order to maintain their normal operating income."

According to a survey by PWC international accounting, the main retailers in the UK have begun to give in. The percentage of their sales and advertising spending is 66%, compared with 55% last year. The discount level is the highest since 2008, because the surge in retailers has just hit the tide of price reduction.

Mark and Hudson, a British retail and consumer guide at PWC international accounting, said: "the traditional hawk chicks game between retailers and consumers has been very hot lately."

Debenhams department store, UK, has been following the Christmas holiday in mid November, and has launched a Christmas shopping promotion campaign. Many products have been sold at half price.

Retailers have tried their best to stimulate consumers to shop. Currently, Argos, a leading retailer in the UK, has opened a temporary store at London Railway Station, and John Lewis Department has released a iPhone application for emergency sprint.

Dixons, an old British household appliance retailer, provides a guarantee that it can repay next year to consumers who come to Christmas Eve.

B&Q, the largest DIY and horticultural diversified retailer in the UK and Europe, launched its biggest winter sale in. The activity of 60 million pounds will last until March next year, a month longer than in previous years. Martin Philip, chief executive of the retailer, said it was the most powerful and transparent price reduction ever held.

According to Springboard, a British Retail Association and data analyst, in the week ending December 11th, passenger traffic dropped by 2.3%, and retailers looked forward to the last Christmas shopping craze.

Stephen Robertson, director of the British Retail Association, said: "this decline shows that sales in the Christmas season are still very difficult."

Mike Hillwood, chief executive of Aurora, said the transaction was very difficult, and the volume of traffic declined while the tide was advancing, but its online sales increased significantly.

But Hill Wood expects the company to have strong year-on-year sales growth this year, because last year's sales figures were not satisfactory due to heavy snow.